More than two dozen states have joined the Texas lawsuit opposing President Obama’s executive amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, but more eye-opening is the list of Republican governors whose names still do not appear on the suit. The seven Republicans who have thus far elected not to join the suit aimed at reining in Obama are Chris Christie of New Jersey, Terry Branstad of Iowa, Larry Hogan of Maryland, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, Matthew Mead of Wyoming, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Bruce Rauner of Illinois. Five of those seven states – Maryland, Iowa, New Mexico, Massachusetts and...

An early look at likely Iowa Republican Caucus participants shows a strong conservative tilt as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker leads the pack with 25 percent, twice as high as his nearest rival, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters who identify as "very conservative" make up 45 percent of the caucus participants surveyed by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Tea Party supporters make up 32 percent of likely caucus-goers and Walker gets 33 percent of that Tea Party vote. There is a horse race for second place, with 13 percent for U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, 11...

An early look at likely Iowa Republican Caucus participants shows a strong conservative tilt as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker leads the pack with 25 percent, twice as high as his nearest rival, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters who identify as "very conservative" make up 45 percent of the caucus participants surveyed by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Tea Party supporters make up 32 percent of likely caucus-goers and Walker gets 33 percent of that Tea Party vote. There is a horse race for second place, with 13 percent for U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, 11...

Less than 11 months remain before the first votes are cast in the process of selecting our next president. The Granite Staters like to say Iowa picks corn and New Hampshire picks presidents. The truth is Iowans decide who's left for New Hampshire to pick from. I wrote last month I'd be exploring the GOP field in my coming columns, but this column will be my last for the Journal so I’m compelled to do a Cliff Notes version. Ted Cruz: The Spoiler. The junior senator from Texas has made as many, if not more trips to Iowa than anyone...

AMES, Iowa–An Iowa State University student is recovering at the hospital after his family says he was attacked. Twenty-year-old Cale Truhlsen was leaving a party last weekend when his family says he was confronted by a group of adult males. ...........................

A leading Republican consultant has ranked the top 10 presidential candidates for 2016 while claiming that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has about the same odds of winning the party’s nomination as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, The Washington Post reported. The unnamed strategist divided the GOP race for 2016 into "four lanes" — establishment, tea party, social conservative and libertarian, according to the newspaper. Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker are the leading candidates in establishment, the largest lane, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is battling it out with retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum...

President Obama’s pick to serve as the next attorney general is having a hard time finding Republican supporters. To be confirmed by the Senate, Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch only needs four Republicans to support her nomination. But it is unclear where those votes will come from. Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) is the only Republican so far who has signaled his intention to vote for Lynch, though several others have spoken favorably about her. But many Republicans are expressing concerns about Lynch's stance on immigration and what they suggest is a lack of “independence" from the White House. Lynch’s confirmation...

The debut edition of our leader board of the Republicans most likely to win the presidential nomination, based on what we know now, shows the field may not be as big as most people think. 1) JEB BUSH (age 62, to Hillary’s 67): He’s got money, momentum, Florida, big ideas. His surprise, early signal that he’s running is THE PLAY OF THE CAMPAIGN so far — pushing OUT Mitt and perhaps Christie by freezing or stealing their money and talent. Jeb will be first Republican to $100 million by a mile. Now, watch for the use of overwhelming force to...

The Politico ^ | February 13, 2015 | James Hohmann and Kristen Heyford

The Walker surge in Iowa, Hillary’s Obama problem and other news from Week One of our yearlong insiders’ survey from the ground in 2016’s first-in-the-nation races.Most Iowa insiders believe Scott Walker would win their state’s Republican caucuses if they were held this week. But they’re not this week, and virtually none of the most influential thought leaders in the Hawkeye State believe that the Wisconsin governor will sustain his recent bounce in polls. This is one of several intriguing findings in the debut survey of The POLITICO Caucus. More than 100 of the most plugged-in activists, operatives and elected officials...

Cissy has never run away from home before. But on Saturday the miniature schnauzer from Iowa did, in order to find the person that ishome. Cissy disappeared from her yard in Cedar Rapids, only to show up about 20 blocks away at Mercy Medical Center. Her owner, Nancy Franck, has been at the hospital for the last two weeks, after undergoing surgery for ovarian cancer. But it remains a mystery how the dog managed to find her way back to her beloved 'mom'.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is the front-runner in a new 2016 Republican presidential preference poll in South Carolina, while U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is close enough to make it a statistical tie here. But the news is less favorable for Graham in three other early voting states - Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada - where his level of support registers at negligible among GOP voters, totalling at 1 percent and below. The poll, by the conservative Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, put Walker is out front in South Carolina but statistically tied with Graham, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and...

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa widow is charged with a crime and had nearly $19,000 seized from her bank after depositing her late husband's legally earned money in a way that evaded federal reporting requirements. Janet Malone, 68, of Dubuque, is facing civil and criminal proceedings under a law intended to help investigators track large sums of cash tied to criminal activity such as drug trafficking and terrorism. But some members of Congress and libertarian groups have complained that the IRS and federal prosecutors are unfairly using it against ordinary people who deposit lawfully obtained money in increments...

Des Moines, Iowa – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is opening the first Iowa office among the potential 2016 Republican contenders for the presidency. Walker, who has led all other GOP presidential aspirants in recent polls, leased the space at 2775 86th St. in Urbandale, the Des Moines Register reports. The office building has a lengthy political history with Republican candidates – although Walker hasn’t officially tossed his hat in the ring for the 2016 election. Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses are tentatively expected to be held on Feb. 1, 2016 and are crucially important for presidential campaigns looking to establish a national...

WEST DES MOINES — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told an Iowa crowd last night he will bring blunt, straight talk to fill a leadership void in Washington and give the country hope again if he decides to seek the Republican Party’s 2016 presidential nomination. “Leadership matters,” Christie told about 100 Republicans who turned out for a Dallas County fundraiser at a suburban hotel to hear the New Jersey governor who made his third Iowa appearance within a month and his 13th trip overall. He met privately with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds before attending the...

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa – An early Saturday morning political event on an unusually warm February day might not be the ideal conditions to draw a good crowd. However, 140 Marshall County Republicans packed into the Legends American Grill in Marshalltown to hear their new representative in Congress, Rod Blum, and likely presidential candidate Rand Paul. Most of Rod Blum’s brief remarks focused on his tangle with President Obama’s budget director, Shaun Donovan, last week on Capitol Hill. Iowa’s new First District representative also relayed his controversial first vote in Congress, supporting Daniel Webster over John Boehner for House speaker. Many in...

HOUSTON — The political operation of potential 2016 presidential candidate Ted Cruz continued to beef up Monday as a top aide to former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich signed onto the senator’s team. Rick Tyler, Gingrich’s longtime spokesman who served as a top strategist to a super PAC that supported Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign, will join Cruz’s campaign-in-waiting to serve as a senior communications adviser. “I am honored to come on board with Sen. Cruz and join the effort to make D.C. listen to the American people,” Tyler said in a statement. “I believe he will emerge as the...

Less than a year before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, it appears that every Republican contender is making a serious play to win the state, setting up what is likely to be one of the most active, competitive campaigns here in recent memory. Political observers in Iowa say that the field is wide open and that numerous candidates have a legitimate shot to win or do well enough to come out with momentum. That is partly because moderates in the Iowa Republican Party, led by Gov. Terry Branstad, have reasserted themselves into the caucus process after watching social conservatives dominate in 2008...

With a chance to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship on the line, the top-ranked Iowa wrestling team steps onto the big stage today. The Hawkeyes are expected to compete in front of the largest crowd to ever watch a collegiate dual meet in their noon matchup with defending NCAA champ Penn State. A sellout crowd of at least 16,000 is anticipated at the Bryce Jordan Center, where the Nittany Lions established the existing record of 15,996 a year ago for a dual against Pittsburgh. That doesn’t impress the Hawkeyes’ fifth-ranked 125-pounder Thomas Gilman, one...

Bill Maher ended his show tonight finally talking about Sarah Palin‘s rambling Iowa speech that was the final straw for many Republicans and conservatives. But Maher had just one question for them: “What took you so long?!” Maher mocked the revelation as an “emperor has no clues” situation and asked Republicans why they took so long, saying, “The rest of us have been watching this dog eat grass for seven years!” However, while Maher was glad that many conservatives are finally admitting Palin “is a crazy person,” he said they should maybe consider what else they’ve been “wrong” about, like...

GOP presidential hopefuls are cozying up to anti-immigrant extremists and right-wing billionaires. When I was growing up, my older Mexican-American relatives had an expression: “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.” It was my family’s way of making me careful about choosing my friends. Even then, I could see they were right. The smart kids mostly hung out with other smart kids. The athletes stuck with other athletes. The troublemakers befriended other troublemakers. That saying comes to mind when I think about the Iowa Freedom Summit, a big gathering in Des Moines that basically...

The Post reports: Former Texas governor Rick Perry on Thursday will announce that he has recruited more than 80 major donors, including some of the biggest bundlers in Republican politics, to aid his efforts as he prepares for a likely 2016 presidential campaign. Perry’s list of supporters is heavy with wealthy Texans, including many energy executives, investors or other business leaders who have backed his previous campaigns, such as his unsuccessful 2012 presidential run. The Rick PAC Advisory Board also features bigwigs in California, New York, Florida, Illinois and other donor-rich states, as well as more than a dozen donors...

Scott Walker is the hottest thing in the 2016 GOP presidential race (to the extent it even exists). He gave a very well-received speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit a couple of weekends ago, and the new Bloomberg/Des Moines Register poll of the Iowa caucuses has him surging into first place.. Which is even more notable because of one of the prevailing questions about Walker's likely candidacy: whether he's too boring to win. Walker, you see, has the unfortunate distinction of running four years after another upper-Midwestern GOP governor flamed out early in the GOP primary. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty,...

Dear Reader: You need to make up your own mind—Sarah Palin gave a pretty, gosh-darn good speech in Iowa at the Freedom Summit on January 24. And yet Sarah Palin’s speech is being universally trashed by liberals, establishment cronies, and conservatives alike. This is the end for Sarah Palin, pundits cry. Her presidential bid is over before it started. And not only that, but also Palin’s influence in the Republican Party has passed its “sell by” date. But could this amazing consensus be driven by the fact that nearly all conservatives, establishment Republicans, and liberals are rooting for some other...

(AUDIO-AT-LINK)There is not a lot of love between the U.S. labor movement and those on the long list of potential 2016 Republican presidential hopefuls. But there is one name among the GOP prospects that labor truly despises — and fears. He is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who weakened unions in his own state and appears ready to make his battles with labor a centerpiece of a bid for the White House. Walker's approach on a recent Saturday in Iowa was telling. In a downtown Des Moines theater full of conservative activists, he spoke for 22 minutes. But right off the...

As he prepares for frequent trips to Iowa to explore a presidential bid, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will be pushed to champion ethanol — an issue he has in large part avoided. Walker has dodged stating his views on the Renewable Fuel Standard, a federal program that requires transportation fuel sold in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuel, which in practice is usually ethanol made from corn. The GOP governor has declined to take a position, saying last year he wanted to strike a "careful balance" on the issue that — when higher amounts of...

Some people see a racist inside every head that formerly wore a mullet. Is it “racially polarizing” to publicly applaud people who achieve the American Dream? If you’re a liberal critic of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s recent Iowa Freedom Summit speech, the answer might be yes. On Wednesday, Slate writer Jamelle Bouie published “Divide and Conquer,” a guide to “Scott Walker’s divisive message for winning the White House.” If any candidate could “run a rigid campaign of polarization—aimed at winning as many white voters as possible,” Bouie writes, “it’s Walker. His language is already there. In his Iowa speech, he...

LOS ANGELES — Backstage on Friday night at CBS Studio Center, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro was about 30 minutes from appearing live on the edgy HBO comedy show “Real Time with Bill Maher.” He was cramming for his spot on the show’s panel, reviewing topics with Scott Carter, the show’s executive producer. Castro should expect to talk about the Koch brothers, Mitt Romney, Saudi Arabia. Carter peppered the congressman with questions. Castro, 40, offered one-sentence answers. “Do not feel like you have to be concise for us,” Carter said. “If anything, be expansive.” Another topic Maher might cover: The Iowa...

On January 27, Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) announced the formation of a 527 committee called Our American Revival, unveiled a new website, and issued a statement which included the following: To move this country forward we need new, fresh leadership from outside of Washington. We need leaders who are bold. That’s how we build a better future for our children and grandchildren. We’ve done it in Wisconsin and it can be done across this country with the right leadership. Walker’s statement refers to his actions in balancing Wisconsin’s state budget, closing an unconstitutional deficit hole of $3.6B while actually...

RUSH: Now, as you know, ladies and gentlemen, Scott Walker has been championed on this program for, well, years, actually. But in terms of his success, the things that he has encountered, the adversity that he's overcome in being elected governor of Wisconsin and then having to win three more times a couple of recall elections, which were nothing more than disguised efforts by the Democrat Party and their allies to destroy him, and then another standard reelection effort, the guy has overcome every effort the Democrat Party knows to destroy him. His family has stood tall. Scott Walker and...

It has been a long time since we've seen any candidate that truly stood with the Constitution. What we need is another Calvin Coolidge. . . and his name is Scott Walker This writer has already established that Scott Walker is the best candidate to represent the Republican Party for President of the United States. He is fearless, stands on his principles, and in the State of Wisconsin, as governor, he endured attacks by the left and the labor unions that put him in a position to face three elections in four years. . . and Scott Walker prevailed, in...

I can't seem to find any concrete answer to that question. Looks like a lot of muddling it up to confuse people in my opinion but I could be wrong. I'm not trying to knock the man because I'm more neutral on him right now until I hear more and the issue of immigration but Amnesty, illegals and botder security is a very important issue if not the defining issue for a lot of folks in this country.

A Republican governor twice elected in a traditionally Democratic, Midwestern state. A record of achieving conservative goals and battling with his state's liberals. Openly devout and socially conservative enough for the evangelicals in the GOP, but not so religious to make non-churchgoing Republicans uncomfortable. A regular guy persona, in part because he didn't grow up rich like Mitt Romney or one of the Bushes Those are the characteristics that have some Republicans excited about the potential candidacy of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who Tuesday formed a political committee called "Our American Revival" in the latest step towards his likely presidential...

The Beltway is abuzz over Scott Walker. The Wisconsin governor is the talk of Washington Republicans following his much-heralded speech in Iowa last weekend during the state’s first 2016 candidate cattle call. Walker’s strong showing in the Hawkeye State is reverberating back in D.C., where donors, kingmakers and lawmakers in both houses of Congress are talking about him as a top-tier candidate in the crowded GOP field. “He should feel pretty good about this past weekend,” said Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who organized the Iowa Freedom Summit. “So far, this week has been pretty good for Scott Walker.” The governor...

By the somewhat tamer standards of the Midwest, Scott Walker’s speech to the Iowa Freedom Summit last Saturday was a smorgasbord of red meat. In just 20 minutes, the Wisconsin governor shed the persona that brought him to the stage—the stern but affable accountant—and re-emerged as a conservative warrior who defeated the unions, defunded the abortionists, and beat back the liberals to win three statewide elections for governor. His message, in short, was that he was effective, unwavering, and uncompromising. There was no need for outreach or a “big tent.” With the right conservative message, Republicans could win elections—and win...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced Tuesday that he formed a political organization to help boost a potential 2016 presidential run, the first concrete step toward a possible campaign that comes as others are also ramping up efforts to seek the GOP nomination.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, whose speech to activists in Iowa last weekend drew strong reviews, has taken the first formal step toward a presidential candidacy in 2016, establishing a committee that will help spread his message and underwrite his activities as he seeks to build his political and fundraising networks in the months ahead. Walker filed papers to set up the committee, called "Our American Revival," and a new Web site for the organization was scheduled to go live later Tuesday. The steps come after a busy weekend of pre-presidential events that included his address at the Iowa Freedom Summit,...

"....Walker, who is deep into preparations for an all-but-certain bid for the Oval Office, called for a “transfer of power” from Washington, D.C. to the states. He called the city “68 square miles surrounded by reality,” with six of the 10 richest counties in America, according to the median income. “We need to transfer power, power from our nation’s capital here in Washington back to the cities and states in this country, where the people, where the hardworking people in this country can actually hold their government accountable,” he said...."

In the poll, released on Saturday night, [Sott] Walker was the first choice of 15 percent of respondents in the poll, up from 4 percent when the poll was conducted in October. Walker bested Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who was at 14 percent. Mitt Romney was in third at 13 percent; the poll was taken from Monday to Thursday, before he announced his withdrawal from the race. Ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was in fourth with ten percent of voters' support. ...Jeb Bush, who is viewed as the GOP's establishment choice, was only preferred by eight percent of voters. The results...

What we really crave is a conservative winner who doesn't cave. And Scott Walker is very arguably that guy. He won in 2010. He picked a fight with Big Labor and won. He survived a recall. And he won again in 2014 — by almost the same margin as he did in 2010. That's three wins in four years for a man who governed as a conservative reformer in a state that the Republican presidential nominee hasn't carried since 1984.

It came as no surprise to me that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dazzled the audience at the recent Iowa Freedom Summit. I have long touted the potential strength of Walker as a presidential candidate. He has an impressive record of actual governing accomplishments and has advanced conservative ideas in the face of fierce opposition from unions and liberal activists nationwide. He’s also demonstrated clear political skill in winning three elections in four years in a blue state. At a time of division among Republicans, it’s hard to think of another candidate who can excite conservatives as much as Walker without...

Scott Walker has had a good week. The press is googly-eyed over him, waxing on about how he could just win this thing, and he's still rolling on his high from last weekend's Freedom Summit. Of course, that's not really something to write home about when you're besting the likes of Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee. He's got that populist message down pat just like his other friends on the campaign trail. Income inequality! Deteriorating middle class! And he's so concerned about those things he's going to govern on that basis, right? Walker has a real problem on...

A year out from the Iowa caucuses, potential presidential candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has taken the lead among Republicans, an Iowa Poll published Saturday indicates. With 15 percent support, Walker leads a number of other potential candidates for the Republican ticket, including Rand Paul, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee and Jeb Bush, the Des Moines Register reported. Walker is the No. 2 candidate among potential caucus attendees who support an establishment candidate as well as those who prefer one who is anti-establishment, the Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa poll indicated. Following close behind, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky...

We know how the mainstream media piles on Sarah Palin. It’s the industry’s obsession when it’s not covering missing planes, New Jersey bridge closings, and binders full of women. Now, we’re seeing a new attack on the former Alaska governor, and it’s coming from an unexpected source: conservative media. Palin had it coming, to a degree. She made a speech in Iowa last week, and she fantastically flubbed a metaphor after an alleged teleprompter hiccup. It’s ugly on the ears: “The man can only ride you when your back is bent … so strengthen it! Then the man can’t ride...

The 2016 Republican nominating season is beginning to move to the next level as events like last weekend’s Iowa Freedom Summit give candidates more opportunities to interact with primary voters in early states. Although Jeb Bush’s announcement late last year that he will explore a candidacy has shaken up the race, the Republicans can hardly be described as closing ranks around the former Florida governor. It remains likely that the Republican primary field will be large, and by most measures, strong, leading to a genuinely competitive primary. Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin is the kind of candidate who can easily...

The far-right immigrant-basher boasts of his new influence in his party, and sadly for moderates, he’s right. Self-promoting wingnut immigrant-basher Rep. Steve King invited most of the 2016 GOP hopefuls to his “Iowa Freedom Summit” last weekend, and now the results are in: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the Steve King primary, according to Steve King. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s endorsing either of them right now, it’s just his humble view of how they did at his all-important conservative confab. “I think Ted Cruz had the highest bar to reach, and I think...

WINDSOR HEIGHTS, Iowa — When former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee walked into Walnut Creek Church here on Sunday night, fresh off his gleaming navy-blue bus, he was greeted by the crowd of suburban evangelicals as a visiting celebrity rather than a 2016 presidential candidate. Waiting in line to get their copies of the Republican’s latest book signed, a handful of the attendees shared recollections of Huckabee’s spunky 2008 bid for the White House, when he won the Iowa caucuses and seven more states before bowing out. But most of the conversations focused on Fox News, where Huckabee had been perched...

Former CBS reporter and Daily Signal senior independent contributor Sharyl Attkisson will testify at this weekÂ’s confirmation hearings for Loretta Lynch, who was nominated by President Obama to replace Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General. Attkisson, who was invited to speak on a panel of witnesses by the Senate Judiciary Committee led by Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, will address issues concerning freedom of the press.She tells The Daily Signal: The Senate Judiciary Committee is concerned about a number of free press issues, as are many journalists. They want to touch on some of those issues at the hearing for the attorney...

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has hired a Democratic staffer in Iowa, as he considers a potential 2016 presidential bid. O'Malley's political action committee hired Jake Oeth as a consultant, beginning in mid-December, the PAC confirmed Tuesday. Oeth was the political director for Bruce Braley's Senate campaign last year. Politico first reported his hiring. O'Malley's PAC also said it has brought on Brad Elkins, who will be based in Washington, D.C. Both have Iowa experience. Elkins was sent by the O'Malley camp to Iowa last year to work for Jack Hatch's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign. O'Malley, who left office after last...